28 comments:

Diane recommends TALES OF A FOURTH GRADE NOTHING by Judy Blume. Diane also likes When You Reach Me By Rebecca Stead (Newbury Award winner) and a great time-travel plot!). I would go with the Harry Potter books.

Harry Potter certainly has the story to draw someone in. But I wonder if it almost seems like a mountain to high to climb for some reluctant readers. I often think a funny book would be the way to entice young boys.

Harry Potter is pretty heavy on the narrative, so not always the right fit (my youngest is a most reluctant reader).

I like the WIMPY KID books, and graphic novels for the most reluctant of readers--there's a new one, a retelling of A WRINKLE IN TIME that's pretty good. The ALEX RIDER series is a favorite with a lot of middle-graders too, and takes it out of the graphic novel realm.

I recently read an older Nancy Drew book with my youngest, and was blown away by how dated the story was. Makes me think I should re-read some of my favorites, see if they hold up...

I highly recommend Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbit. It's sublime on so many levels -- haunting and moving and suprisingly a funny book.

Boys may be more easily lured into reading funny books, but I think its a mistake to go that route. I think Fleur is right -- action oriented stories are best for the reluctant reader. That's what fiction is really all about anyway.

Our nephew loves the How to Train Your Dragon books. He is also a devotee of Calvin and Hobbes. Our older niece loved the Potters and has read several other similar series since. When they started the first book my sister read her a chapter each night. She is now a champion reader and we've sent her a lot of books. She loved Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series. (She just turned 13.) Anything with fantasy, magic, and a strong heroine appeals to her. She read The Hunger Games too.

When Jackie was in charge of social studies for grades 3-6 and then middle school she (and I) read a lot of the books she chose for the kids, including TUCK EVERLASTING, BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA, A WRINKLE IN TIME and historical stories like MY BROTHER SAM IS DEAD.

I have that saved (HARRIET) for the granddaughter that isn't coming. And a lot of other books. Can't bear to give them away. But hope people are still reading books like THE GREAT BRAIN, HARRIET THE SPY, JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH. GOOSEBUMPS came later. I hit the wall for these books in about 1980.

THE CIRCUS OF DR. LAO by Charles FinneySOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES by Ray BradburyTHE WIZARD OF EARTHSEA by Ursula K. Le Guin

At age ten, Mark was really into Percy Jackson. Artemis Fowl and Alex Ryder are among his favs now.

At the same age, Erin was just outgrowing the WARRIORS series by "Erin Hunter." For some reason, anything animals seems to work well with most young girls (at the same age, my suister was heavily into WalterFarley's Black Stallion books). So perhaps Brian Jacques Redwall series?

Most recommended reading lists from schools and libraries do a good job listing books kids really want to read (along with some titles they feel kids SHOULD want to read). These lists are always a good place to start.

I never read a single fantasy book and neither did either of my kids. We were all rooted in reality. I am sure we missed a lot. I also never read fairy tales or science fiction. But as an adult I can easily see the charm in fantasy books for kids. I was a late bloomer I guess. Now the kids books I like most are the ones with fantastical elements.

And this...

“It is a good rule after reading a new book, never to allow yourself another new one till you have read an old one in between.” ― C.S. Lewis

Patricia (Patti) Abbott

Contact me

at aa2579@wayne.edu

About Me

Patricia Abbott is the author of more than 125 stories that have appeared online, in print journals and in various anthologies. She is the author of two ebooks, MONKEY JUSTICE and HOME INVASION and co-editor of DISCOUNT NOIR. She won a Derringer award for her story "My Hero." She lives outside Detroit.

CONCRETE ANGEL

Polis Books, 2015

CONCRETE ANGEL

An atmospheric and eagerly awaited debut novel from acclaimed crime writer Patricia Abbott, set in Philadelphia in the 1970s about a family torn apart by a mother straight out of Mommie Dearest, and her children who are at first victims but soon learn they must fight back to survive. Eve Moran has always wanted “things” and has proven both inventive and tenacious in getting and keeping them. Eve lies, steals, cheats, swindles, and finally commits murder, paying little heed to the cost of her actions on those who love her. Her daughter, Christine, compelled by love, dependency, and circumstance, is caught up in her mother’s deceptions, unwilling to accept the viciousness that runs in her mother's blood. Eve’s powers of seduction are hard to resist for those who come in contact with her toxic allure. It’s only when Christine’s three-year old brother, Ryan, begins to prove useful to her mother, and she sees a pattern repeating itself, that Christine finds the courage and means to bring an end to Eve’s tyranny.